Stephan spent a decade practicing Zen intensively as a monk but left the monastery because he sensed that the rigorous practice of meditation was obscuring the truth he was seeking. After studying Dzogchen for several years, he met his guru, Jean Klein, a European teacher of Advaita Vedanta, who told him to stop meditating and instead discover the meditator. Shortly after meeting Jean, he had a profound awakening to his true identity as timeless presence. After Jean’s death, Stephan met Adyashanti, and in 2001 Adya gave him Dharma transmission and invited him to teach.

Stephan is the founder and director of the School for Awakening, an annual eight-month awakening intensive, and he leads regular retreats and shorter intensives In Tucson, Arizona, and at the Garrison Institute in New York.

Trained and licensed as a psychotherapist, Stephan also offers individual spiritual counseling and mentoring sessions to people throughout the world. His approach blends direct, experiential, nondual wisdom with the insights of Western psychology to support students in realizing who they really are while inquiring into the stories and patterns of thinking and behaving that continue to cause suffering.

Support Batgap

Support Buddha at the Gas Pump with a monthly or one-time donation. BATGAP NON-PROFIT is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax laws. Please consult your tax advisor regarding deductibility. All donated funds will be used for the many related expenses of Buddha at the Gas Pump. Donations of any size are truly appreciated. More detailed information at Why Donate?.

One-Time Donation

CLICK DONATE BUTTON: Start typing the dollar amount but be sure to use a decimal point. Select Donate with PayPal or Credit Card then either log into your PayPal account or enter your credit card information. You do not need a PayPal account to make a one-time donation via PayPal with your credit card.

Monthly Donation

First select an amount from the dropdown menu. CLICK SUBSCRIBE BUTTON. Select either Subscribe using a credit card or Log in to PayPal. In the case of monthly donations via your credit card, you will need to set up a PayPal account if you don't already have one.